Friday, December 16, 2011

Playing Catch-Up

It has been FAR too long since I updated. Sorry about that. Being on the road for a week, and then being home for just three days before company shows up and I'm packing to go out of town again is stressful!

So let's go back two weeks. TWO WEEKS. Yikes.

I set a goal of running a 10k the first Saturday in December. Why? Just because I needed to push myself. I did my 5-miler the weekend of Thanksgiving, and this was up next. Did it happen on that Saturday? No. Of course not. Life gets in the way, and sometimes things don't work quite as planned (and sometimes I need to reschedule my life so I can get my hair done). But did I do it on Sunday instead? Absolutely. Unlike my 5-miler, where I had no music or Garmin, this time I was full prepared. But also unlike my 5-miler, this run SUCKED. Hard.

I started on the same route I did last weekend, planning to take WAY better pictures. Here's the view of Boston at the half mile mark.

It's probably my favorite view. Unfortunately, I was already feeling pretty rough. I thought maybe I just needed to "get the lead out" aka work out the heavy legs, but by mile 1, I was hurting badly. I took one of the Shot Bloks I brought along, and actually sat down for a minute. I was feeling too hot (too many layers for the weather) and a little light headed. I took off a layer and calmed myself down before I set off again. I knew that I could head home around mile 2 if I was really not feeling, but I wanted to give it a college try before I just threw in the towel.

Once I was down a layer, I felt a lot better. I knew I was going SLOWLY, but I didn't feel sick anymore, so that was a major bonus. I did walk run intervals for the next 3 miles because I could not get it together. My pace was all over the place and my legs still felt really heavy. I didn't feel good until mile 4.5ish when my stint along the river was gone and I was in the Public Garden.

At this point I ate my second Shot Blok and was starting to feel kind of good. Not great, but based on what I had done up to this point, I was happy to feel even a little better about the run. That lasted about a mile, and then I wanted to die again. My last half mile was in my old neighborhood, so I know the distances between things and I kept psyching myself out. It was rough. When mile 6 hit I was so happy. I did not feel the excitement I felt when I went 5 miles for the first time, but rather I was SO HAPPY it was over. I ended right in front of my old apartment (and no, I did not run the .2 required to make it a 10k, and no, I don't care).

After my run, I did not take a picture of myself in a mirror because I went to meet Johnny and my sister for brunch and the place we went to had no mirror in the bathroom. Weird. We had great brunch though. I was really hungry (no surprise there). After brunch, my sister and I went to get our nails done, and then I went home to pack!

My first stop was San Antonio, TX! It was a cool little city, but it was COLD. The first night we went to the mall (I forgot to back a belt) and I considered buying another winter coat! My down vest was not cutting it, but I sucked it up and went to visit the Alamo.

I had great plans to run by the Alamo while I was there. I even got a fancy running map from the hotel. But Tuesday morning my legs were still sore from Sunday, and Wednesday morning I was SO tired from work. When I travel I go to conventions and I'm on my feet ALL DAY. On concrete floors. So I couldn't pull it together (especially because I had a few margaritas the night before too...oops). Then Thursday morning I had a 6am flight to San Diego, so the run never happened! Oh well. I did get to see a friend from college for dinner, AND I got to go up in a private plane to see the city from the air.

It was such a cool experience and I was not at all scared or motion-sick, which is HUGE for me. I'm ALWAYS feeling sick while traveling, so I was so pleased to not embarrass myself and barf in the tiny plane.

From San Antonio I went to San Diego, and I have zero pictures or stories of almost fitness for this part of my trip. It was four more days on my feet at another convention and too many late nights. I've heard San Diego is a GORGEOUS place to run, but I just never had the chance. I carried my sneakers all the way from Massachusetts for nothing. OH WELL. Some times that just happens. And I felt REALLY GOOD about how I ate during the week (even if I did drink a little more than usual) so I think it balances out!

Now my brother is in town, and I'm off to New Mexico on Wednesday! We have Christmas with my family this weekend, and as long as I can get some shopping done tonight (I have purchased exactly one gift so far), then I'll be at the gym working up a sweat (for the first time in two weeks) tomorrow morning. I cannot wait for some vacation time! This running around like crazy is getting old!